International Football History and Statistics

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On this day in football history

1924 Luigi Cevenini an Italian International who had 18 Caps became the first Italian to sign for a football league club, when he signed for Plymouth Argyle today in 1924.

1928 Death of Bob Roberts, former West Bromwich Albion and England goalkeeper at the age of 70. A giant of a man he first played for West Bromwich in 1879 but only began his goalkeeping career in 1881. He played in three Cup Finals in 1886, 1887 and 1888 but only won a winners medal in the last final. He became West Brom's first International player when he appeared for England against Scotland in 1887. He went on to play for Sunderland Albion and won another two England Caps.

1928 Jack Hill signed for Newcastle United from Burnley. He was the current England centre-half standing at 6'2 and weighed over 13 stone. He gained a reputation as the beast English centre-half of the 1920's. He bagan his career immeadiatly after the Great War at Plymouth Argyle moving to Burnley for a record fee in May 1923. He later played for Bradford City(1931) and Hull City(1933). He won a Third Division North title with Hull City in 1933 and was appointed manager in 1934. In 15 seasons of League Football he played in 457 matches scoring 27 goals. He played played 11 matches for England between 1925 and 1929.

1960 Jim Standen, Arsenal's reserve goalkeeper, was transferred to Luton Town. He had been a Professional for 7 years at Highbury but had only played a total of 35 matches. He played 36 matches for Luton before he was signed by West Ham United in November 1962. He won an FA Cup medal and a Cup Winners Cup medal while at West Ham. He later played in the U.S.A. but returned to League action for Millwall and Portsmouth. He also played first class cricket for Worcester winning a County Championship in 1964. He played in a total of 270 league matches in his career.

1961 Sir Stanley Matthews played his first match for Stoke City after his return from Blackpool. The crowd increased from 8,409 to 35,288 and watched them beat Huddrsfield 3-0. His league career spanned 33 years(although 7 were lost to the Second World War).